Conference turris::cooks

    Check out the Victory Garden Cookbook for ANY strange veggie that
    you can't figure out how to cook - well, any veggie that will
    grow in New England!  They've got some great recipes for things
    like Leeks and Parsnips that aren't daily table items here in
    the states.  When a bunch of leeks (3 large ones) costs at least
    a dollar, people don't usually buy them!  I grow a lot of these
    more unusual veggies, and have learned to love them.  Leeks and
    parsnips and kale and kohlrabi and pak choi - all very easy to
    grow.  But this isn't the Garden notesfile....
    
    Anyhow, if I remember, I'll look up a few recipes this evening.
    
    --L

    4 tb oil
    4 tb melted butter
    6 chicken legs with thighs attached
    6 large endives (more if small)
    salt and freshly ground pepper
    12 whole shallots
    
    Combine oil and butter and brush over chicken and endives, covering
    thoroughly; sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place chicken in a
    casserole.  Peel shallots and arrange around chicken.  Top chicken
    with endives and any remaining butter and oil.  Seal casserole with
    aluminum foil and cover with a lid.  Bake in a preheated 375 oven
    for 1 1/2 hours.  Serves 4-6.

(by the way, tb is tablespoons in this and the previous recipes)

    Whole braised endive can be served plain or prepared with various
    sauces/cheeses/ham etc.
    
    Oven-braised Endive
    Melt 2-3 tb butter in an ovenproof pan and lightly brown endives.
    Then arrange in one or two layers and sprinkle with lemon juice;
    dot with butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  (for 8 endives,
    use 3 tb butter and 1 tb lemon juice.)  Cover with a sheet of buttered
    waxed paper and then with a lid or foil.  Bake in a preheated 375
    oven for 1 1/4 hours or until very tender and golden.
    
    Slow Oven-braised Endive
    For an even mellower endive, cook longer at a slower heat.  Butter
    an ovenproof casserole and arrange prepared endives in one or two
    layers.  Dot each layer with butter; sprinkle with lemon juice,
    salt and pepper.  Cover with a sheet of buttered waxed paper, then
    cover with a lid.  Bake in a preheated 325 oven for 1 1/2 hours.
     Remove the lid and bake 30 min longer or until endives are golden
    and very tender.  (optionally:  Add 1/2 cup heavy cream and bake
    10 min longer.)
    
    Stovetop-braised endive
    Saute 8 endives in 2-3 tb butter over medium-high heat until lightly
    colored on all sides.  Sprinkle with lemon juice, salt and pepper.
    Add 1/4 cup water or broth and cover with buttered waxed paper topped
    with a lid or foil.  Cook over low heat for 30-40 min or until tender.
    The outer leaves will be tender and the core still slightly firm.
    Cook longer for a softer center.
     - for a no-butter version, sprinkle endives with lemon, salt, pepper.
    Pour about 1/2 cup chicken or beef stock over, cover and cook slowly
    until tender - 30-40 min.  Remove cover and boil stock to glaze
    the endives.
    
    --I've never had endives, and have thus not tried these recipes,
    but I've had success with others from this book.  There's a HUGE
    LONG recipe for making a Breast of Veal with Endive stuffing, complete
    with 3 photos and 17 ingredients.  I'm not going to type this one
    in, but in looks, well, interesting to make.  The final photo looks
    quite tasty.

    There are many many of these in the book.  Here's a selection:
    
    Hints
    - Serve leaves individually on a raw veggie platter.
    - Stuff leaves with fillings like blue or cream cheese or sour cream
    or a combination of these for appetizers.
    - Use endive in a quiche, using braised sliced endives and other
    stuff like crabmeat or feta cheese (I hate feta cheese. ed.)
    - cut into 1-inch slices and add to stir-fry dishes
    - make a salad with endive and some of the following: spinach,
    mushrooms, watercress, seasoned (pickled?) julienned cooked
    beets, feta or blue cheese, radish slices.  Use a vinaigrette
    sauce to dress.
    
    Finishing touches for braised, steamed and boiled endive:
    - Stir in finely chopped shallots during the last 30 min of cooking.
    - Endive wrapped with Cheese and Ham:  Slice large precooked endive
    in half lengthwise - leave small ones whole.  Wrap each endive first
    with a thin slice of swiss cheese and then with thin slices of ham
    or proscuitto.  Put in a buttered dish and bake in a preheated 400
    oven until heated through.  Dot with butter and run under the broiler
    to brown.
    - cover with a light cream sauce and bake at 350 for 20 min.
    - Endive in Mornay sauce:  Make a mornay sauce (see any general
    cookbook), 1 1/2 cups for 8 endives.  Spread 1/3 of the sauce in
    a casserole, layer the endives, and cover with remaining sauce.
    Sprinkle with grated cheese and dot with butter.  Cook in a preheated
    400 oven until warmed through.  Run under the broiler to brown.
    
    ENOUGH typing practice!  Have fun, and let us know what you make!
    
    --Louise
    

    For you European readers, what we Americans are calling endive is
    NOT what you call endive.  The plant we call endive is described
    as "a plant with a narrow pointed cluster of whitish leaves."
    
    The plant you call endive we call chicory, and vice versa!
    
    This particular nomenclature confusion is worse than most because
    both endive and chicory are used in Europe and the US, but the names
    are reversed.
    
        					andrew

    Right.  The recipes I entered are for Belgian Endive.  That is
    a veggie which is grown all summer, then dug up.  Then the root
    is forced in a pot which is in a dark place (like another pot
    reversed on top of it).  The resulting shoot, bleached white from
    the darkness, is what's cooked.
    
    --Louise